Page 47 - Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money

company, the draft board couldn’t get its hands on me. I didn’t have to
avoid the war as my friends were doing. Many friends were surprised when

I volunteered to go and fight. I didn’t have to; I wanted to.
For me, going to war and fighting was not the hardest part of my
decision. I had already been to Vietnam in 1966 as a student studying cargo
operations in Cam Ranh Bay. From my naïve vantage point, the war

actually seemed kind of exciting. I was not concerned about fighting,
killing, and possibly being killed.
The toughest part of my decision was the pay cut I would have to take.
Marine Corps second lieutenants were being paid $2,400 a year. At

Standard Oil, I was making that in two weeks. On top of that, when you
factor in that I was working only seven months a year with five months’
vacation, I was giving up a lot. I was earning nearly $7,000 a month for
seven months and then taking a five-month vacation without pay and

without the fear of being fired for not working. Not a bad deal. There are
many people who would take that deal today.
Being a great patriotic company, Standard Oil was very understanding
when I informed them that I was leaving to serve my country. They said I

could have my job back—if I came back alive. My time in the service
would also count towards seniority with the company.
To this day, I recall walking out of their San Francisco office on Market
Street with this horrible feeling in my stomach. I kept asking myself, “What

are you doing? Are you nuts? You don’t have to go. You don’t have to fight.
You’re draft-exempt. After four years of school, you’re finally making a lot
of money.” With the thought of going from earning $4,000 a month to $200
a month rattling in my head, I nearly turned around to ask for my job back.

Taking one last look at the Standard Oil building, I drove to Ghirardelli
Square to spend money like a rich man at my favorite bar, the Buena Vista.
Realizing that I would now be earning $200 a month as a Marine, I knew
this might be my last chance to feel rich and spend rich. I had a lot of cash

in my pocket, and I wanted to enjoy it.
The first thing I did was buy the bar a round of drinks. This got the party
going. Soon I met a beautiful young woman who was attracted to the cash
flowing from my wallet. We left the bar. We wined and dined. We laughed

and howled. In my mind, it really was eat, drink, and be merry, for
tomorrow I might die.